Twenty five years after the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II, an Italian commission has reached a conclusion that really isn’t that surprising.
ROME — An Italian parliamentary commission concluded “beyond any reasonable doubt” that the Soviet Union was behind the 1981 attempt to kill Pope John Paul II _ a theory long alleged but never proved, according to a draft report made available Thursday.
The commission held that the pope was a danger to the Soviet bloc because of his support for the Solidarity labor movement in his native Poland. Solidarity was the first free trade union in communist eastern Europe.
“This commission believes, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the leaders of the Soviet Union took the initiative to eliminate the pope Karol Wojtyla,” said a draft of the commission’s report obtained by The Associated Press. Wojtyla was John Paul’s Polish name
Until now, definitive proof always stopped at the door of the Bulgarians, but everyone knew that the Bulgarians would never do this on their own; their paymasters in Moscow had to have at least approved it. And it was the Soviet Union to whom John Paul II represented the greatest threat.
In the end, though, the Pope survived and it was the Soviet Union that faded from history.
Matt Barr points out something about this story I forgot:
But let me get this straight. After Agca is freed, you figure out that he was a paid hitman, not some nut like he claimed for 25 years? How does that work?
Well, one could call it coincidence, but its generally wise not to trust coincidences.
More importantly, it looks like Tom Clancey
In other news, it appears that the new Pope may turn out to be a thorn in China’s side. (Hat Tip to Matt Barr for that link)
Technorati Tags: John Paul II, Soviet Union, History
